New year, New plans and Toy Fair plunder

 Happy New Year!

I am writing this as the third fall of snow greets us here at Apperley Towers. None of them have been too deep or debilitating although the chauffer struggled to get the Rolls back up the drive at lunchtime. The blighter had been too lazy to clear away the packed snow which had turned to ice!

That will teach him (me)!

The child in me loves the snow and the tranquil peace which descends with the snowflakes, whilst the adult in me hates the travel issues which arise. My grand daughter was excited and insisted I join her in the usual snow activities, only to be partly disappointed, as the snow was too dry to mould into snowballs or even make a snowman. Oh well, hopefully there will be other opportunities in the future.

I feel like 2025 has been the 'year of the train' and very satisfying it has been too! 

So what plans do I have for 2026? Well I am always wary about resolutions and such like and I don't think there is any need for me to set out targets and schedules! This is a hobby and should be relaxing .....not taxing! Having said that, there are one or two loose ideas that are jostling for me to voice them.

I am in the possibly, envious position, of not having any large burning projects which I have to complete. My gaming activities are relatively mature, in that I have a number of collections which are in theory, 'largely complete'. Yes of course there are more figures, vehicles and terrain pieces I could add, but I don't need to. With a few exceptions I could stop today and not acquire another figure! Now it would be delusional to think that I won't continue to add to existing armies and collections, but I am completely relaxed in my ambitions. Apart from anything else, the toy room at Apperley Towers is full to the gunnels! 

The lack of available storage space, is something which I am intending to address this year. My large book sale last year largely made room for the lovely English Civil War collection I had acquired, plus the natural expansion of my imagination collection. My biggest issue is terrain pieces and buildings. I have always been a little obsessed with them and having wargame armies in so many different scales, era's and genres does not help!

 

A steam powered mechanoid, possibly of alien origin

Regular visitors to my blog will be aware of my fairly extensive 54mm scale collection of terrain and buildings. What you have not yet seen is another complete 'northern' town in o gauge mdf buildings. These have all been constructed but are awaiting paint. I have gone for a more industrial town look with terraced houses and shops and factory buildings. I hope to use these in a game or two this year. The paint finish will be more practical with less attention to detail than I have given my 'English' village properties. I just wanted to vary the feel of my battlefields as my floor games war continues.

Unfortunately, I have similar collections of 25mm scale buildings for fantasy/medieval/renaissance games and an even larger collection of buildings etc for the grim dark WH40k universe!

A review and cull of some pieces is therefore one thing I do want to accomplish this year. 

As for figures, I have between a thousand and two thousand metal and plastic 25mm figures awaiting attention. These are split between classic fantasy metal (mainly from the late seventies to the late eighties), Games Workshop lord of the rings figures and figures for WH40k and associated games. With the problems with my eyesight, I am less likely than ever to paint all of these and will be again looking to review and cull where appropriate. 

My main focus will continue to be 54mm toy soldier gaming and here I have much less of a backlog to paint. Approximately 100 hollowcasts, similar numbers of medieval recruits, 300 ECW figures which I may now partly sell and a box of random 18th century figures for who knows what! I do however have a large collection of pre war Britains garden pieces to repaint and fit into my floor games world. 

So I really don't need to buy any more figures unless a new project takes root, but my Floor Games armies will continue expanding as whim and opportunity arise. 

I will be the first man on the moon!

As for my games, I have considered a campaign but the attention to detail and planning doesn't appeal. My Floor Games world has sort of created its own campaign in the form of a struggle in Albion between the Socialist forces and the Royalists, with a faux French empire supporting the rebellion whilst a faux Germanic confederation looks to be likely to side with the Crown.  This general background narrative gives me endless scope to set up encounters broadly along these lines without tying them down into a time line driven campaign. Spontaneity and fun is to be the driving force here. 

I do have early plans for a 5th army which will be a cross between a Boer and Confederate force. I have already started to collect suitable figures as and when they appear. I am already beginning to think of them as the 'Free Welsh Volunteers', but I may change my mind completely as the army evolves!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Additionally you may see a little more of a steam punk ethos creep in as well as a Victorian version of U.N.I.T. to assist when supernatural or extra terrestrial influences creep into my world. Recruitment to this new organisation is already underway. I am however struggling to think of a suitable name to distinguish it from UNIT. I want to give it a name that has a Victorian feel to it. Any ideas?

Steam Panzer!

A 54mm Science Fiction game or two, is also very likely this coming year. 

Robots and Ray Guns!

So there you have my thoughts on the next 12 months activities. Its all quite exciting really! 

Waifs and strays.............Stafford Toy Fair plunder

Monday the 29th saw me leave Apperley Towers at the ungodly hour of 7am to reach the Toy Fair venue at just after 8am. As I have said before, I am a firm advocate for buying the early bird entrance ticket (£10 instead of £5). Two and a half hours browsing before the big crowds come in.

Once again I feel the investment paid off.

I was in a relaxed mood with nothing specific in mind. Just browsing and hoping for some interesting opportunities. My first purchases were from a toy soldier dealer I have known for over 30 years via Plastic Warrior. He is always generous with a discount and I bought a group of metal figures from him.

RAF air crew (Solid figures maker unknown)

British Infantry (Crescent?)

Britains classic Lancer Officer

(repainted) Britains Dragoon Officer

The five dismounted figures were in a bag together for £4 and the two cavalry figures in another bag for £12. I asked for a price for the two lots together and was quoted £10! Thanks Phil, you're a gentleman!

The mounted officers are particularly useful and I have plans for the others as well. A nice start to my day. 

My next purchase was a Dinky open backed lorry and another Britain's 2 pounder anti aircraft gun. £6 the pair. Useful items for later projects and cheap enough.

I had been at the fair an hour and a half at this point and thought this was going to be it....relatively slim pickings but I was happy enough. It was then as I wandered out that I saw a small box of lead garden items. I quickly checked what was in the box and asked the price. '£20 quid the lot mate!' was the reply and money duly changed hands.

This might not be the most exciting pick up for most people but I love this stuff and in relatively good condition it can be very expensive. Here's a group picture of what treasure was in the little box.

Almost 70 individual items

40 plants in complete very good condition

The first of 3 Britains benches (my first of these useful little pieces)

A second bench in slightly rougher condition which will be repainted

The garden arch with the 4 crazy paving pieces

I am happy to pay roughly a pound a plant and the garden benches and trellis would have been a good buy at a fiver each. All in a superb little buy and means that there isn't a lot more of this range that I want to acquire for my project. I am still amazed that these items have survived when you consider that production ceased in 1941!

I left the show in a good mood and was home by 11am. I have already dabbled a little with the paintbrush on some of these purchases but more about that in my next post .

Tara a bit!